Surgical blades on a scalpel are replaced several times during an operating procedure. On the average, about five new blades are used on each scalpel, depending upon the surgeon's techniques and preferences, the type of operation being performed, and the severity thereof. During the procedure, the blade can become dulled quite rapidly, especially if tissue or bone is being cut, and surgeons prefer to have a very sharp blade on the scalpel at all times.
Each blade is contained in a sterile package of aluminum foil or the like, and the package is peeled apart to uncover the rear portion of the blade. Typically, the rear portion of the blade has a longitudinal slotted opening formed therein to receive a laterally-projecting bar on the forward portion of the scalpel; and the bar on the scalpel is snapped into the slotted recess on the blade, thereby removably mounting the blade on the scalpel.
This is a manual operation. The used blade is removed from the scalpel, and a new blade is subsequently mounted on the scalpel, basically using finger dexterity, and sometimes using an instrument called a hemostat. Despite the care that is exercised, the nurse or other assistant in the operating room is occasionally cut or nicked while changing blades on a scalpel, especially while the nurse or assistant is concentrating on the patient or the instruments at critical times during the operating procedure.
The used blades often carry blood, tissue or bodily fluids, and thus there is a substantial problem that the nurse or other assistant in the operating room will inadvertently acquire an infectious disease, such as the Hepatitis B virus or the HIV ("AIDS") virus. The situation is becoming quite serious, if not alarming, and some health care providers have quit their operating room practice entirely rather than continually risking exposure to the AIDS virus.